OBJECTIVE: Before reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, build upon background your current knowledge of the setting and time period.
Research a civil rights figure or event (chosen from a teacher-provided list) with the intention of gathering information to present to the class. Students may choose from a variety of visual options as part of their presentation: PowerPoint, Prezi, trifold poster, movie, etc.
STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
PRODUCT: I can draw from several sources in order to present information on a famous civil rights figure or noteworthy event focusing on displays of courage. (W.7.7)
PERFORMANCE: I can locate credible digital and print sources and appropriately paraphrase and cite information using MLA style to avoid plagiarism. (W.7.8.)
PRODUCT: I can draw from several sources in order to present information on a famous civil rights figure or noteworthy event focusing on diplays of courage. (W.7.7)
PERFORMANCE: I can present my research to the class using visual displays and multimedia components. (SL.7.5)
This fictional novel is set in 1963. To help you understand the historical background of our nation at that time, you will complete the following webquest. Understanding major events leading up to 1963 and post-1963 will give insight into why Daniel Watson held such a negative view of Birmingham.
GROUP #1: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions below. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
What were two results of the Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas?
The nation’s first black Supreme Court justice argued for Brown as an NAACP attorney in the Brown v. Board lawsuit. Who was he?
What fourteen-year-old boy was kidnapped, beaten, shot, and dumped in the river while visiting Mississippi from Chicago? What led to his vicious murder? What two outrageous events involving the murderers occurred?
1957:
In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black youths try to integrate what high school? Those nine black youths became known as .
1961:
What was the purpose of the groups known as “freedom riders”?
1962:
In a “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” what does Martin Luther King, Jr. argue?
GROUP #2: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
What is the name of the Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety who used fire hoses and police dogs against protesters?
What famous NAACP officer was murdered outside of his home in Jackson, Mississippi?
How many years did it take for Byron De La Beckwith to finally be convicted?
Why did 200,000 people join together in Washington, DC, at the Lincoln Memorial? *Why was this an appropriate place for that speech? *The answer isn’t in the article. Use your knowledge of history to answer this one.
Name the four girls killed in Birmingham at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
How many other black youths died as a result of this incident?
Group #3: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
1964
What were two important parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
How many civil rights workers were killed in Neshoba County, Mississippi?
For what two reasons were they killed in Mississippi?
List the events leading up to their murders.
Group #4: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
What famous black leader was assassinated on February 21?
What is believed to be the reason for his assassination?
Why did people attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery?
What stopped them and where? How many people were hospitalized because of police brutality? What did this day become known as? It is believed this march led to what being passed five months later?
How did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 make it easier for blacks to vote?
Group #5: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" AND "1963 Birmingham Church Bombing" links below to respond to the questions below. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
List two reasons Birmingham was such an important focus of the civil rights movement.
Surprisingly, whom did the SCLC recruit as protesters? What was the age of some of the youngest protesters? Eventually, how many were jailed? What brutal police actions were taken against the protesters?
Where did this protest occur? Who ordered the brutal actions of the police?
How did black high school youths utilize the church?
In the days leading up to the bombing, what two events occurred that angered the Ku Klux Klan?
How long after Brown v. Board of Education were Birmingham schools ordered to integrate by the federal court?
What detail illustrates how racist the Ku Klux Klan was in Birmingham?
Group #6: Use "Four Little Girls" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
How old was the first man convicted? Which man was thought to be mentally unfit to stand on trial? Who helped persuade the court otherwise? What was the sentence of both murderers? What did the “Kitchen Tapes” reveal about Thomas Blanton?
Before reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, build upon background your current knowledge of the setting and time period.
Research a civil rights figure or event (chosen from a teacher-provided list) with the intention of gathering information to present to the class. Students may choose from a variety of visual options as part of their presentation: PowerPoint, Prezi, trifold poster, movie, etc.
STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 WebquestAll credit to Eastwood Middle School Library
This fictional novel is set in 1963. To help you understand the historical background of our nation at that time, you will complete the following webquest. Understanding major events leading up to 1963 and post-1963 will give insight into why Daniel Watson held such a negative view of Birmingham.
Guidelines/Requirements of the assignment
GROUP #1: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions below. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
**A Civil Rights Timeline**
1954:
- What were two results of the Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas?
- The nation’s first black Supreme Court justice argued for Brown as an NAACP attorney in the Brown v. Board lawsuit. Who was he?
- What fourteen-year-old boy was kidnapped, beaten, shot, and dumped in the river while visiting Mississippi from Chicago? What led to his vicious murder? What two outrageous events involving the murderers occurred?
1957:- In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black youths try to integrate what high school? Those nine black youths became known as .
1961:- What was the purpose of the groups known as “freedom riders”?
1962:GROUP #2: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
**A Civil Rights Timeline**
1963
Group #3: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
1964
Group #4: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
**A Civil Rights Timeline**
1965
Group #5: Use "A Civil Rights Timeline" AND "1963 Birmingham Church Bombing" links below to respond to the questions below. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
**A Civil Rights Timeline**
Birmingham 1963
- List two reasons Birmingham was such an important focus of the civil rights movement.
- Surprisingly, whom did the SCLC recruit as protesters? What was the age of some of the youngest protesters? Eventually, how many were jailed? What brutal police actions were taken against the protesters?
- Where did this protest occur? Who ordered the brutal actions of the police?
1963 Birmingham Church BombingGroup #6: Use "Four Little Girls" link below to respond to the questions. Prepare your responses in a visual presentation you can share with your peers.
**Four Little Girls**
- What FBI director lied, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute anyone for the bombing?
- Who reopened the bombing case eight years later?
- Who was the first person convicted of the bombing? When was he convicted? Did he ever admit to his role in the bombing?
- Who admitted that he helped set the bomb but no charges were ever filed against him? Why weren’t charges filed?
- What two men faced charges for the murders in 2000?
1963 Birmingham Church Bombing